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Insight

Read about the amazing health benefit of "always meaning what you say." This idea was tested with a sample of 72 adults just this year. Half of them were randomly assigned to a Sincere group that was given these instructions to follow over a 5-week course. As compared with a control group, the Sincere group reported on average 7 fewer physical complaints in the last week.

It is said that there are two kinds of people: givers and takers. But that label is not particularly helpful in predicting how a given person will act in a given instance. Knowing whether the people in your life emphasize form over substance will help you see the world through their eyes. Your understanding could keep you from being exploited and bring peace of mind.

If a man wants to have sex AND be honest about his intentions, he might try saying, “Look I have a burning desire to be with you physically. As with you, it might or might not lead to anything. But I most definitely would not view you differently – only a pig would – if you agree. Of course, I wouldn’t tell anyone. And I will try my hardest to please you physically.”

You managed to free yourself from an arrogant woman. A far more appealing woman is out there for you. She loathes to put herself above others or exaggerate her skills and talents. She will believe you when you say you are sincere, kind, and committed because her own heart is sincere. The world opens up with a woman like this. And she is far sexier than you may imagine.

Your spouse's belittling behavior is appalling to you. You wouldn’t dream of treating a mouse running loose in your home with such abuse. Yet your spouse—your “lover”—feels entitled to bully you and your young child this way. You ask yourself, “How did I ever get trapped in this God-forsaken, unfair marriage?!”

It's tough to know where you stand with an arrogant man. He obstructs the truth to protect his inflated image. At least you don't have to wonder if he is honest—his shallow sense of entitlement tells you that he is not. A humble man, however, is sincere and easy-going. He is like a crystal-clear pond that is also black because the bottom is so very far from the surface.

“How could racism and sexism have persisted into the modern era?” A key to solving this puzzle may come from understanding the motivations of humble, honest people. A great many of them may be hiding the truth: They are devoid of racism or sexism. They don't reveal these truths or confront oppressors because they question their own motives and have high regard for others.

College students today know they have been pegged as Generation Me. However, the empirical foundation for claiming that there has been a rise in narcissism among college students must be called into question.

People who lie to us often wrongly interpret "beyond a reasonable doubt" as "100% proof". However, you do not need 100% proof to take action! You can use the implausibility of the liars' claims to decide that they are indeed lying.

If you are an honest person stuck with a narcissistic partner, don’t think of yourself as a sucker. It is because of your wonderful qualities of sincerity, fairness, and modesty that such a haughty and dishonest person could wiggle into your life.

“Who wouldn’t encourage their kids to be people pleasers? And who wouldn’t want to be around such persons?” After all, people pleasers pay their fair share of expenses, do their fair share of work, and have in general a high regard for other people. Yet far from being spineless, they are the very ones who will stick up for you when you really need it.

When people try to guess whether they are going to succeed at a task or land a position, they tend to focus on themselves. However, research suggests that if you really want to know whether you are going to succeed, you should look at the competition, not in the mirror.

We might say that we value intelligence in a prospective lover. And yet our bodies can respond very powerfully to a great-looking, but not-so-brilliant partner. Why aren't the smartest people also the sexiest ones?

Why is it so difficult to communicate through email? What can you do to communicate better? Read about several key psychological priniciples that can help explain the challenge of communicating electronically.

Wives are more likely to have a major weight gain; and husbands are more likely to be bothered by a spouse's weight gain. But are weight gain and the accompanying loss of attraction legitimate excuses for an affair?

About Insight

Insight offers new ways of looking at widely accepted empirically-based claims, as well as describes new findings and divergent ways of interpreting them. As a scientist, Professor Kelly seeks to understand truths. She sees the addressing of alternative plausible explanations for a given set of results as fundamental to efforts to approximate the truth. When she discovers a compelling alternative explanation to the one published, she posts here to allow the reader to weight the different viewpoints.